No single solution to tackle corruption: PM

No single solution to tackle corruption: PM

With Team Anna stepping up the heat on the corruption issue, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday said the government was open to reasoned debate on the Lokpal Bill but made it clear that there was no single solution to tackle the problem.

"We have introduced the Bill in Parliament which is now before the standing committee. There are differences of views on details of the bill," Singh said at the golden jubilee function of the Indian Institute of Management in Kolkata.

"We have made it clear that all concerned individuals should convey their concern on different aspects of the Bill to their representatives in Parliament and to the standing committee", he said.

'We are open to a reasonable debate'

Singh said, "We are open to a reasoned debate on all these issues". Recalling his Independence day address, Singh said, "I said (in my speech) that there is no magic wand that can solve the problem in one stroke. There is no single solution. We need to act on multiple fronts".

He said that the creation of Lokpal as an institution would help but it would not solve the problem. "It needs to be supported by improvements in the pace and quality of judicial processes".

He said that corruption has not disappeared from the system and it surfaces in many forms. "The aam aadmi faces corruption when he has to pay a bribe to facilitate ordinary transactions with the government", the prime minister said.

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Image: Anna Hazare during his indefinite fast at Ramlila Ground in New DelhiPhotographs: Parivartan Shrama/Reuters

'The govt is serious to remove corruption'

"There is also corruption on a larger scale. Large government contracts can breed corruption when government procedures are inadequate", he said.

He said that strong procedures were needed to eliminate corruption and the government was serious to remove it.

"It is a mistake to see corruption as a consequence of economic liberalisation and reforms, Singh said, adding, "Any area which has actually seen systematic reforms has seen disappearance of corruption."

Singh is on a two-day visit to West Bengal and is scheduled to returned to Delhi later on Monday.